IR Blogpost 6

This was a pretty intense section. First, we find out that Trudy has pneumonia. Edgar has to take over all the work in the kennel. He think he can get everything done quickly by taking shortcuts, but one shortcut created a big problem. He dumped food on the ground in a buffet style for the dogs, but it was too chaotic and a fight broke out amongst the dogs. Two were injured. Trudy wakes from the commotion and forces herself to the barn. The local vet is on vacation, so the only person she could call was Claude (who happens to be very good with dogs injuries) although she did so reluctantly. Claude came and fixed up the dogs, but after that he became a regular visitor.

Edgar finds out that he has been pounding his chest in his sleep. That goes back to when Gar died and he hit his chest to make a sound on the phone. Trudy was upset by this because it was evidence that Edgar has not been talking to her, that he has been bottling his feelings.

Sometime later, for nights in a row, he would wake up from the dogs barking, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He goes down to the barn one time in the rain and he sees a "figure". This figure doesn't go away, and it ends up being his father. This ghost uses sign to speak and proves his reality by doing commands for the dogs, which they follow. Edgar is in shock, but Gar tells him why he was there. He tells Edgar to find "what he (Claude) lost. What he thinks is lost forever". This thing was a syringe which Edgar found somewhere in the barn. He also tells Edgar that Claude has proposed marriage already to Trudy. Soon after, the apparition disappears.

This brings all the pieces together and I definitely see a Hamlet similarity. Brother kills brother, ghost comes back and tells the son. That was pretty intense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HfT634yxmI

IR Blogpost 5

It is very clear that Edgar and Trudy are depressed in this section. I think Trudy is doing everything she can to forget because Edgar found her one day packing away everything that belonged to Gar.

It is also mentioned how difficult it is to maintain the work at the kennel without Gar. Edgar and Trudy discuss possibly quitting the business because it's too much for them, but Edgar refuses to do that. So, they decide that they will make it work somehow.

I have no idea what this was about, but I thought it had to mean something. A little girl approaches Edgar at a diner. He doesn't know her, but for some reason, she was very familiar to him, as if he has seen her before. I couldn't make heads or tails of that.

This was just something I notices, but I thought it was worth mentioning. The Jungle Book is brought up a lot because it is Edgar's favorite book. Of course I realized the connection. The main character, Mogli, was raised by wolves, and Edgar in a way was raised partly by Almondine, who never leaves his side. I thought that was interesting.

The rest of this section deals with the history and reasoning behind the Sawtelle breeding business and philosophy. The phrase, "the next dogs" is mentioned, which leads me to believe they have a goal which is to breed a more intelligent dog, a dog which can think and feel on a deeper level than most other dogs. http://www.goodhongik.com/component/content/article/3-dog-breeding-articles/15

Trudy also has started developing a debilitating cough. I don't know where that's going, but I think it is going somewhere.

IR Blogpost 4

Edgar and his mother, Trudy go to the police station to give an official statement concerning Gar's death. It was just a formality, but we learned that Edgar has lost most of the memories concerning that day. They learned later that Gar died from an aneurism in his brain.

The circumstances of the funeral were interesting. Due to the freezing temperatures, the ground was too hard to dig, so they built a bonfire for the sole purpose of thawing the ground. When Edgar and his mother stood near the fire, Trudy showed sensitivity to the smoke, whereas "Edgar breathed it in, feeling not the slightest tickle."(156) I thought that was strange for some reason. I'm not quite sure why though. Anyway, the day of the funeral was stranger because Claude shows up after being gone for a while and he comes bearing company. That company included all the dogs they sold that were alive and their owners. Of course, the people acted the way people always do at a funeral. They offer their condolences and reassurances. After going to funerals of my own family members, I can understand why Edgar was so uncomfortable. I can relate.

I think the overall idea behind this section in particular is that there is nothing you can do except survive and keep moving forward when disaster strikes.

Creative Writing

Alberto- Chilean Couple-Poem-Lessons Learned

You have shown me something

I have been privileged

You are struggling to get by

I thought I would get a taste of the hard life

I have not

Everywhere I have gone

People have been hospitable

And shown me kindness

Who has been kind to you?

You have starved

You have been in prison

And for what?

For having a different belief?

For wanting a better life?

I thought this journey would give me experience

That it would show me the hard life

It hasn't

But you have.

You have lived the hard life.

IR Blogpost 3

Edgar is given full responsibility of a litter for the first time. He, with help from Gar, delivers the pups, seven in total. He was very nervous and Gar walked him through the process step by step. http://www.labbies.com/whelp.htm

This section displays more and more tension between Claude and Gar. They argue and fight constantly, however reasons are unknown. One fight became the end of it, and Claude left after that.

Some time after Claude's departure, Gar is found by Edgar lying on the floor of the barn, collapsed. Edgar was alone and there was nothing he could do. He tried even calling the Operator, but he could make no sound. No one knew how Gar died. However, this is extremely fishy. I would bet it was Claude who did it. This was not a coincidence.

This vaguely reminds me of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo only because Harriet had disappeared without a trace, and it was presumed to be a murder. There was no evidence of how she died, or if she even died. Gar did die, but as far as the characters are concerned, it is unclear why or how.

IR Blogpost 2

This is a Bernese Mountain dog. Personally, this is what I see when I think of Almondine.

In this section, we are introduced to Edgar. He was born with a unique maladie. He was born unable to make a sound. His hearing was fine, but he couldn't cry or whimper or anything. Trudy went to many doctors when he was a baby in hopes of finding some way to fix it, but in the end, it did no good. She went to an Oracle by the name of Ida Paine, who confirmed that he would not make a sound, but that he could communicate using sign language.

It wasn't long until another woman shows up unexpectedly at the instruction of Ida Paine. Her name is Louisa Wilkes and she had two deaf parents and knows how to sign. She tells the Sawtelle's that they should learn sign and teach Edgar to communicate that way.

Almondine is also shown in this section and she is a highly intelligent dog with a strangely acute understanding of humans. It is mentioned that the Sawtelle dogs are bred based on disposition and intelligence, not appearance. Almondine is a classic example of a Sawtelle dog. She is very aware of what goes on. When Edgar was a baby, he couldn't cry, but she could tell when he was even though he made no sound. She would wake the parents and make them aware of Edgar's distress.

Later, when Edgar is older, Gar's brother, Claude, comes to stay at the farm. He was in the navy and now doesn't have a place to stay. (I noticed how Claude is in the navy, but so was the unnamed man in the Prologue...hmm). Claude acts very strangely and sneakily during this section. His thoughts, motives and ideas are not given. He does hint that he had been in prison. Nothing more however.

A stray dog is discovered in the area. It's starving. Claude insists that the dog should be shot. Gar was uncomfortable about what Claude said. To Edgar, Claude told a story about how Gar had a stray dog once, but he used it in dog fights. One time, Gar got so drunk and that he shot and killed his dog out of anger. Which is why now, he cannot shoot the stray that's out there.

Edgar gains some trust from the stray and they had a secret relationship. He named the dog Forte.

After reading this section, I get a bad feeling about Claude. He acts very strange and secretively. I don't trust him. His motives are unclear, but there must be a reason he showed up besides needing a place to stay.

IR Blogpost 1

The Prologue starts the novel. An unnamed man asks for a certain potion that will kill without leaving any trace of unnatural death. He heard music play and the lyrics were:

"I'm wild again, beguiled again,

A simpering, whimpering child again

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered I am" p.2

I just thought that it was possible that these words might be applicable to this unknown character even though so far, nothing about him is known.

Then, in the next chapter background information is given about the history of a farm and how Edgar's grandfather started the dog breeding business. The grandfather had two sons. One stayed in the business, the other left. Gar, the one who stayed, married a woman named Trudy. They had an unfortunate series of pregnancies. There were two miscarriages and a still born. In the passage during the last failed pregnancy, the weather was very obviously symbolic of Trudy's emotional state. During her depression, it was rainy and when she began to recover the weather improved as well.

When Gar went to the grave of the recent baby, he found a very young wolf pup going down a stream. He picked it up and brought it back to their house. The young thing refused all food and drink and died that night. It was surprising that the story didn't make it a happy ending. They buried the pup next to the baby. Both were unnamed.

However, after the pup died, Trudy went on to have a full term pregnancy. I saw this as a life for a life because in the book it said, "and in the dark they (Trudy and the pup) made a bargain that one would go and one would stay." p.28 A captivating beginning.

IR Book

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Author: David Wroblewski

180 degrees South

"Books are a great start, but there is no substitute for just going there."

Books don't give you any experience. They can only do so much for your imagination. Without actually going there, you won't really know what it's like. Also, in a book, you are reading about other peoples experiences and feelings, not your own. Only by going somewhere can you develop your own ideas and memories. Books can give you and idea or inspire you or move you, but that is the extent of their help. The only way to know for sure about a place, you have to go there yourself.